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Photo: Avi Cohen
Arrest at Pelephone
Photo: Avi Cohen

Cops say CEO's knew of spying

Police convinced case solid against 11 private investigators in ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal and say CEO’s ‘will be hard pressed to explain why they didn’t report getting material in improper ways'

TEL AVIV - Less than a day after the “Trojan Horse” computer spying scandal hit the papers, Tel Aviv district police are convinced this corporate espionage case is the real deal.

 

As of Sunday night, police said indictments will be handed out against all 11 private investigators arrested in the affair.

 

All the way to the top

 

The question is: What of the CEO’s of the major companies involved, some of whom already have testified and others who are expected to do so in coming days?

 

That all depends on whether it can be proven that the businessmen involved knew that they were getting illegal information from their detectives.

 

The head of Tel Aviv’s fraud squad, Superintendent Aryeh Eidelman, said he believes the question to be practically rhetorical in nature.

 

“I compare this to someone who buys property on a street corner and knows that it was gotten illegally but buys it anyway. When he’s caught later, you can indict for possession of stolen property,” Eidelman said.

 

Though the court will ultimately decide the fate of the CEOs involved, Eidelman told Ynet, “Anyone who demands and receives from a private investigator downloaded computer information, balance sheets, PR campaigns, and future plans of rival companies needs to explain why he never felt it necessary to report that the material was acquired through improper channels.”

 

Judge Mordechai Peled remarked this past weekend that it was not unreasonable to assume that material so sensitive could only have been gotten from rival companies by illegal means.

 

Looking for an informant

 

The police are now trying to get the investigators to admit the companies that hired them knew their computer-based industrial espionage was illegal.

 

So far, the only suspect to “sing” has been Alex Weinstein, a computer specialist who worked for Krochmal Special Investigations, but never sat in on high-level company discussions.

 

As for the top executives arrested last week, they will be brought before the Tel Aviv magistrates court Monday and be released.

 

However, the police plan to keep an eye on them.

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.30.05, 01:35
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